


Perfectly Dysfunctional; Dysfunctionally Perfect

by ALittleWren



Category: Neighbours (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23964106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleWren/pseuds/ALittleWren
Summary: A family dinner at number 22 gives Terese cause for thought.
Relationships: Paul Robinson/Terese Willis
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Perfectly Dysfunctional; Dysfunctionally Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> Me: decides to sit down and start writing a fic I've had planned for the last month  
> My Brain: decides to spontaneously write a 2,000 fic about something completely unrelated  
> So that's what I did today!  
> It doesn't really take place in current canon, so there are no spoiler for any of fellow British viewers, although it could be read as taking place in current lockdown times if you wished!

“Is the food here yet?” A familiar voice greeted Terese as Roxy came down the stairs.  
“Nope.” Ned replied from his position on the couch, not bothering to open his eyes.  
Roxy pouted, “But I’m _HUNGRY _”.  
“Well maybe, if you’d placed a smaller order, they wouldn’t be taking so long.” Harlow said, looking up from the textbooks scattered across the table.  
“I ordered a perfectly normal amount of food!” Roxy protested. Paul and Terese looked over at her from the kitchen island.  
“Well, yes, if you were feeding the five thousand.” Terese said.  
“Or like half of Paul’s kids.” Ned responded.  
“Well played” the Willis women congratulated him, whilst Paul glared, apparently affronted. Roxy sighed, “Well if there’s too much we can just chuck some over the fence for Hendo.”  
“We will not,” Paul said “Pierce Grayson might not have bothered to raise his son for the first seventeen years of his life, but he has more than enough money to feed him. Hendrix doesn’t need to scrounge off us  
Terese shot him a _look _. “What?” He asked.  
“Darling, I love you, but you have all the self-awareness of a gnat.” She directed her attention to Harlow before her husband could object. “Sweetheart, can you clear the table?”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
Roxy sat down at the island, resting her head in her hands despondently. “I’m hungry and I’m bored.”  
“Well you could always help me set the table.” Harlow said.  
“Since when does Roxy help?” Ned asked, getting up from the couch to join the rest of the family “And why are you bored anyway, you’ve spent all day flirting with Lukasz from the hotel.”  
At this the whole family’s attention was piqued.  
“Wait, Lukasz?” Terese asked as Harlow laughed.  
Paul was just confused “Who?”  
“The new waiter in the hotel restaurant.” Terese explained, but the blank look on her husband’s face suggested he was still none the wiser. Roxy spun round to glare at her cousin.  
“How do you know about that?!” She demanded.  
“Haven’t you heard?” Ned asked teasingly, “I’m clairvoyant.”  
Roxy scoffed in response “Oh what, you’ve got crystal balls?”  
Thankfully, the outbreak of World War Three was put on hold by the ringing of the doorbell.  
“Dinner’s here!” Roxy squealed excitedly, her argument with Ned forgotten.  
“Saved by the bell.” Paul muttered to his wife.__

__The next few minutes flew by in a flurry of takeaway containers and debates over who’d ordered what. Oddly, Terese thought to herself as she watched the circus unfold around her, it was in this kind of chaos that she felt most as home. Being welcomed into the extended Willis family, and then raising three kids, she’d become accustomed to chaos- she’d learned to thrive in it; and it had been hard, over the last few years, to watch on as her house had become quieter and quieter. Somehow, within the space of a few months, everything had changed. Chaos had descended, and once again, her home was filled the clamour, commotion and chatter of family life. Sure, the family that lived here now looked very different to the family she had first moved to Erinsborough with, but it was still_ her _family. As a matter of fact, Terese considered herself very lucky. There were times when she was younger that she would have given a lot for a family like this, now as an adult, she’d had the chance to be a part of two of them. Not many people got that kind of opportunity.__

__She couldn’t help but smile to herself as they settled down at the table. Ned laughed at something Harlow had said and she was immediately transported back to the first time they’d met, over twenty-five years ago. He’d only been a baby then, but but his smile was still the same as it was not. As were those eyes, a kind of dark greyish blue, that even then had looked at the world rather sceptically.  
Nineteen-year-old Terese had had no idea what she was getting herself into, when Brad Willis walked into the lobby of Lassiters Darwin, hair tousled from the saltwater, his sister’s work file in his right hand, a wedding ring on his left. To say she’d been terrified to inherit a baby stepson was an understatement, but they soon managed to get used to each other, especially after the twins were born. Ned may have his faults, but he has always been an amazing big brother. He’d been five when Piper was born, and he immediately appointed himself as her personal bodyguard. He’d stand guard next to her, protecting his new baby sister from Joshua’s boundless (but often clumsy) energy and Imogen’s tendency to curiously poke the baby in the eye.  
Terese and Ned had become very close during that time. It had made sense for her to take over the childcare whilst she was at home, so Ned had spent most of his time at their house. Ned didn’t sleep much back then, constantly plagued by nightmares, and neither did Piper, so they’d sit up all hours of the night, whilst Terese told them stories from a fairy-tale book her grandmother had given her as a child. The book itself had disappeared years ago- one of the many casualties of her parent’s divorce, but she’s spent so much time reading that book she could recite the stories from memory even now.  
That closeness hadn’t lasted long.  
Beth decided to relocate to Sidney about a year later and had taken Ned with her. It was understandable, Terese struggled being separated from her kids even now, she’d never have managed it when they were that young, but it had still been hard. As time went on, visits became less and less frequent, and the distance had seemed bigger and bigger, until eventually they lost contact with him all together.  
The fact that she was now getting a second chance with Ned, to welcome him into her home and her family was amazing to Terese. People so rarely got second chances; they needed to be cherished. Looking over to Roxy, Terese realised she’d been given more than one second chance. She’s nearly lost her relationship with her niece altogether last year, but here she was sat at her kitchen table, bickering with Harlow over something pointless, officially the middle child in this strange family they’d built._ _

__Her relationship with Roxy had been tricky, even from the very beginning. Terese could remember Gemma’s smile when she’d told her she was pregnant even now. She’d been so thrilled and excited. Terese had managed to mirror this excitement for the rest of lunch, only to fall apart when she made it back to her car. Her happiness for Gemma and Adam dampened by her own grief and jealousy that they were getting the exact thing she’d just lost. Grief had been replaced by guilt when she’d returned home to find Brad, Ned and the twins sat around the kitchen table, colouring happily. She’d forced a smile then, too, telling herself she should be grateful for what she already had, desperately trying to ignore the little voice inside her head telling her that there was someone missing.  
She’d been there the day Roxy was born, alongside Gaby and Pam. Adam had protested that he didn’t need backup, he was a doctor, after all, but Gemma was convinced he would be as useless as Brad had been when the twins were born (“How’s the drip?” the midwife had asked Terese. “The I.V. or my husband?” had been the response).  
“It’s a Willis thing,” Gaby had said. “The Y chromosome cancels out the genes for common sense and general competence.”  
Gaby had been right.  
She often was, it was why she and Terese were such good friends. The smile on Gemma’s face when Roxy was finally handed to her had been even bigger than the day she’d announced her pregnancy. And this time around, Terese hadn’t had to fake a smile in return, safe in the knowledge it would be her turn next.  
She’d always had an affinity with Roxy, although Terese wasn't able to pinpoint why exactly until one Christmas a couple of years later. Adam and Gaby had gotten into an argument about something, although Terese couldn’t for the life of her remember why, and in retaliation Gaby had visited every single toy shop in Darwin to find the most obnoxiously loud toy she could. The result was a bright red teddy bear that lit up and sang and recorded messages. Naturally, Gaby had recorded Chumbawumba’s _Tubthumping _onto it. True to form, Roxy had fallen in love with that bear instantly and wouldn’t be separated from it. Adam nearly had a conniption and after he’d stormed out to go for a walk because “I can’t listen to that_ thing _anymore, I am going to go mad!”, Roxy had looked Terese dead in the eye with the biggest grin she’d ever seen. Terese couldn’t help but laugh out loud, much to a still-retreating Adam’s annoyance- she recognised a fellow firebrand when she saw one. It was probably why they ended up at odds so often.  
Terese knew she was guilty of prioritising Harlow over Roxy. In a way, they both reminded her a lot of herself. Unfortunately, Roxy frequently reminded Terese of a version of herself that had been so deeply unhappy, desperately looking for something to distract her, hoping that if she made enough of a fuss, someone would pay attention for long to notice how much she needed help. None of that was Roxy’s fault, though, and maybe Roxy was just as unhappy now as Terese had been all those years ago. Terese made a mental note to start spending more time with her niece- it was long overdue.__

__Her relationship with Harlow has been much smoother. But that’s probably because there was no history between them- whilst Terese had known Ned and Roxy their entire lives, she’d known Harlow for less than a year. But she and Harlow had hit it off immediately; they were both people who appreciated order and organisation, who believed in goals and drive and aspiration. Interestingly, where her similarities with Roxy often caused the two of them to clash, it was Terese’s similarities with Harlow that caused them to get along so well._ People are strange _, Terese thought to herself. Her bond with Harlow was probably also helped by the fact that Paul’s relationship with his granddaughter could be a little rocky. Paul’s tendency to be a little overbearing, clashed with Harlow’s need for independence. Combine that with Paul having no experience in parenting a teenage girl and the generational difference, and conflict was inevitable. Terese felt it was important to act as a middle ground between the two of them. It didn’t hurt either that there was something quite Imogen-like about Harlow. Terese liked that. It somehow made it seem like her eldest wasn’t quite so far away.__

__Her thoughts were interrupted by Harlow’s voice  
“Hey, did I tell you that I got 92% on my maths exam?” She hadn’t and was quickly congratulated on her success by the rest of the family.  
“Following Auntie T’s footsteps, hey?” Roxy said, half complimenting, half teasing. Terese laughed in response  
“I hope not,” she said, “the only exceptional talent I had as a teenager was for making teachers and social workers cry.”  
“Well my exceptional talent is clearly for cooking because this is amazing” Roxy said.  
“You didn’t cook it!” Harlow said, laughing.  
“No, but I phoned the restaurant and placed the order.”  
“Which to be fair, in this house, is an important life skill.” Ned observed.  
“I think Paul’s the only person in this house that’s actually cooked in the last week.” Terese said.  
“And that risotto was amazing.” Said Harlow.  
“Why thank you.” Paul replied, “You know Terese married me for my cooking skills.”  
“I married you the money,” was the response, “The fact you can cook was just an added bonus!”  
“Oh really?” Paul’s eyes met Terese’s from across the table, eyebrow raised.  
“Yep.” She nodded, attempting to keep the smile off her face.  
She failed badly._ _

__“You okay?” Paul asked her later, as they were putting the leftovers into containers, listening to the kids bicker over what film they were going to watch in the living room.  
“Of course. Why?” She asked.  
“You’ve just been quiet this evening.”  
“So have you.” She countered.  
“I’ve just been thinking.” He paused for a second “Trying to figure out how we ended up with three kids.”  
Terese was about to reply but was interrupted by a shout from the living room, as Ned wrestled the TV remote from Roxy, holding it above his head, out of her reach. Turning back to Paul, she noticed the contented, happy twinkle in his eyes as he watched the scene unfold.  
“You know, not many people get a second chance like this” He said, “We’re very lucky.”  
Terese couldn’t disagree with him on that one._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, feedback is always appreciated.  
> Random thought I had whilst writing this: Paul and Terese have done the enemies to lovers, best friends to lovers and housemates to lovers tropes, which is really quite impressive!


End file.
